Archive for March, 2008

In the age of Xbox Live, LAN Parties and online competitions, it’s funny that people everywhere are still coming up with really weird ways of competing and pwning. Here’s a list of some of the silliest and most outrageous competitions from all over:

1. Air Guitar Championships – Probably one of the strangest competitions getting international attention is the Air Guitar World Championship, which is being held yearly in Oulu, Finland since 1996. The annual championship allows air guitar performers from around the world to showcase their creativity, talent and skills in playing air guitar and rocking out. This unusual competition was also chronicled in an amusing documentary called Air Guitar Nation. The annual championship has been getting a lot of competitors each year, and even fewer guitars.

2. Hemp Olympics – Proving that the hippie generation is still alive and kicking, the annual Mardi Grass Festival in Australia offers participants a chance to compete in the Hemp Olympics, with competitions such as Joint Rolling, Bong Throwing and, for the more physically-minded, a Growers’ Ironperson competition (a feature of which is crawling through tunnels dragging large bags of fertiliser).

The small Finnish village of Savonlinna hosts this competition annualy, where 32 male contestants compete on who can throw their cell phones the furthest. There’s also a freestyle competition where the contestants juggle their phones in front of judges.

4. Pole Dancing Competition – This competition was held recently in China by the “Lolan Pole Dancing Club” to promote pole dancing in China, and attracted over 50 competitors including male dancers. Pole dancing has been gaining popularity recently, and is now regarded as a recognised form of exercise.

The organizers wanted to promote it as a “healthy and positive” exercise in China, and something that has “nothing to do with sex”.

5. Staring Contests – A staring contest is a game in which two people stare into each other’s eyes and attempt to maintain eye contact for a longer period of time than their opponent. There’s an official organization, The National Association of Staredown Professionals (NASP) governing over organized staredown championships, and a documentary was even made out of one man’s “professional career” in staring contests called Unflinching Triumph. Having stare-downs doesn’t really seem that silly, but it’s amazing how some people take this competition seriously.

A few weeks ago, Air Rivals had a final character wipe and started with their Open Beta period, a phase were final tweaking and testing will be done in preparation for the game’s full release. Air Rivals is an MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that has Flight Action shooter gameplay incorporated with MMORPG elements, such as stats, equipment customization.

I’ve always wanted to do a blog on video game news and musings on the games I’m playing, and after choosing WordPress over Blogger, here it is, Max Pwnage.

I’m a console gamer at heart, though I also play PC titles every now and then. I admit I’m not as l337 like most gamers claim they are but i do love a good challenge. Strategy games are what I enjoy the most, and I love action, shooters, MMOs and fighting games as well. Action figure collecting is another interest of mine, revitalized no thanks to 4chan’s new /toy/ section.

Anyway, if any of want to be on my blogroll feel free to leave me a message with your blog’s URL and I’ll add you up. I can’t think of anything else to say right now but do stay tune for updates! Oh yeah, I just picked up WH40K Dawn of War: Soulstorm earlier today, I think I’m gonna go and try it out. 😀